Calling anyone interested in a friendly strength competition for this spring/summer

[jademonkey]

Yeah, beer is my nemesis too lol. Would be cool if light beer was as good as a frosty IPA but it sadly must remain the caloric equivalent of drinking a hefty slice of cake. I was actually relatively cut (albeit much weaker) until I started drinking beer more than every month or so.

I have a lot of respect for your strength at that degree of leanness. Seems to me that the majority gravitate towards being predominantly big and strong but quite fat or actually lean but nevertheless small and weak. In my own microcosm of the gym world, I don't often encounter people that aren't pretty well one or the other. Kind of funny that most (myself included) end up fixating on going farther towards the same extreme rather than addressing the particular flaw.

I've probably low-balled my BF a little but as long as I stay below 25% it's not going to bother me that much. Would be very happy to sit at ~18% year round, though.

I've never been into bodybuilding - always more into performance. But with a life of being obsessed with performance in various athletic endeavors comes the personal expectation of being lean all the time - not a goal so much as what I view as my natural state of being. So I personally can't tolerate much fat. I spent years in the gymnastics gym, so I still tend to view visible abs as the norm rather than the exception. Also, as a competitive personality, knowing at 5'-10" I'm never gonna be the absolute strongest of the bunch, I gotta go for the strength/weight ratio.

[ECGordyn]

5'7" crew. Above 85-86 kg I look disgusting, forget 90/200 lbs. At this point I'm thinking more long term health and sustainability, big bulks are probably over (maybe)

2 years and 2 diets took my blood pressure down 2 levels to normal, so the health effects are real. But dam, bulking is fun.

[EliKoehn]

Deadlift
3 x 5 at 365 (these are notably getting a little easier and moving a little faster between sets)

OHP
Two failed attempts at 185. I had gotten this somewhat recently but was not able to today. Instead...
3 x 6 at 135

Barbell Curl
1 x 4 at 135

A.S.
Barbell Curl
5 x 8 at 95
Lateral Raise
2 x 10 w/ 25s, 2 x 8 w/ 25s (forgot I was doing tens and accidentally replicated the curl number in the preceding set)

[MyEgoProblem]

Soo Yesterday.

Beltless Deads 200kg for a bunch of fast singles

Mate does a bro split, and wanted to do more back..
Landmine rows, meadows rows and i was bored as hell
and thus skipped cable rows, Lat pulls, shrugs and biceps. So Went to bench instead.

Pause Bench 120kg for a bunch of fast singles

Now I'm back at work.. But doing waaay more than expected due to a new site startup. Won't be focusing on any goal until june. Will just be strength maintaining and burning a stupid amount of calories.

[EliKoehn]

^^ Gotcha, well I hope you're able to keep up with this somewhat. I guess Ironface decided not to, as well. Life does happen though.

Quick lunch workout today. Got an event tonight that will take up the evening so just a quick bench maintenance session at lunch for me today:

Flat Bench
225 x 14 (without spot and RPE 10 on final rep)
235 x 8
245 x 6
275 x 1

[WolfRose7]

^^ Gotcha, well I hope you're able to keep up with this somewhat. I guess Ironface decided not to, as well. Life does happen though.

Quick lunch workout today. Got an event tonight that will take up the evening so just a quick bench maintenance session at lunch for me today:

Flat Bench
225 x 14 (without spot and RPE 10 on final rep)
235 x 8
245 x 6
275 x 1

solid work, if weird to me doing the volume work first

My last 2 days of pivot fun

D3
Neutral Grip Press
Close Angled Grip Chins
Bulgarian split squats

D4
Neutral Grip Inverted Rows
Neutral Grip Larsen Bench
Ab wheel

can you tell i got a new bar xD

[EliKoehn]

solid work, if weird to me doing the volume work first

My last 2 days of pivot fun

D3
Neutral Grip Press
Close Angled Grip Chins
Bulgarian split squats

D4
Neutral Grip Inverted Rows
Neutral Grip Larsen Bench
Ab wheel

can you tell i got a new bar xD

Thanks - what's so odd about that though? Was feeling strong and wanted to see if I could beat my record of 15. In my mind it's just a question of what you want to emphasize for that day.

[WolfRose7]

Thanks - what's so odd about that though? Was feeling strong and wanted to see if I could beat my record of 15. In my mind it's just a question of what you want to emphasize for that day.

That's a fair point,

Because peak strength dropping off means less load and less clean low reps, and because volume only the relative intensity matters really and not how many reps.

When I'm doing both the higher intensity lower rep work always comes first and the volume is the work after.

Not like I haven't done random stuff bwfoee jsut for fun though .

Edit:

Got my next development block rundown from Coach, you'll see as I upload vids but we going to have some spicy heavy fun

[ECGordyn]

Edit:

Got my next development block rundown from Coach, you'll see as I upload vids but we going to have some spicy heavy fun

Looking forward to seeing it for sure.

Assistance lifts this block:
Constant tension squat
3x8 @ 67%, 3x10 @ 67%, 3x8 @ 70%, 3x10 @ 70%

Tempo bench
3x6, 3x5, 3x4, 3x6 @ 8

SLDL
3x8, 3x7, 3x8, 3x7 @ 8

[EliKoehn]

Looking forward to it Wolf. And EC, how much difficulty did the tempo add to that? 200 seems kind of light for you @8.

For our purposes here, I don't think this counts, but yesterday I did a high-volume, light weight lat and shoulder workout with a buddy. He has gotten more into bodybuilding and less into powerlifting. It was a nice variation for once in a blue moon.

Did about 4-5 sets of 20-30 reps for single joint lat pulldowns, bent over rows, Yates rows, lateral raises, front raises, lat pulldowns, T-Bar rows, lying rear-delt flies and a couple machines, all at about 40% 1rm. Didn't feel very fatiguing but I am sore, so it must have been good for some stimulus.

[ECGordyn]

Looking forward to it Wolf. And EC, how much difficulty did the tempo add to that? 200 seems kind of light for you @8.

For our purposes here, I don't think this counts, but yesterday I did a high-volume, light weight lat and shoulder workout with a buddy. He has gotten more into bodybuilding and less into powerlifting. It was a nice variation for once in a blue moon.

Did about 4-5 sets of 20-30 reps for single joint lat pulldowns, bent over rows, Yates rows, lateral raises, front raises, lat pulldowns, T-Bar rows, lying rear-delt flies and a couple machines, all at about 40% 1rm. Didn't feel very fatiguing but I am sore, so it must have been good for some stimulus.

Couldn't give you an accurate comparison, I've barely touched anything above 70% in a couple months. Maybe twice as hard as comp. bench I guess? Tempos are a lot harder. This block I'm recording RPEs so maybe can provide some kind of accurate reference later.

Volume and variety are my themes too in these development blocks. OHP'ed 20 reps of my wife's squat weight just to show off, then cleaned and pressed 15 reps of her RDL weight. It's fun to f*k around a bit, not be so serious all the time. Month of Sept. will be razor discipline for me as I peak.

[EliKoehn]

Couldn't give you an accurate comparison, I've barely touched anything above 70% in a couple months. Maybe twice as hard as comp. bench I guess? Tempos are a lot harder. This block I'm recording RPEs so maybe can provide some kind of accurate reference later.

Volume and variety are my themes too in these development blocks. OHP'ed 20 reps of my wife's squat weight just to show off, then cleaned and pressed 15 reps of her RDL weight. It's fun to f*k around a bit, not be so serious all the time. Month of Sept. will be razor discipline for me as I peak.

Interesting. Yeah, whenever I've dabbled with speed work or paused reps, it's surprising how much more difficult they are. Somewhat recently I just did a 5x5 with 225 and it was honestly fairly challenging pausing a full second at the bottom of each rep and having to move the weight dead.

In reference to the other thread, I'll start the Candito 6 week the first week of May. Are you going to focus on a particular lift for the next block?

[WolfRose7]

My comp bench is maybe 2% weaker than Tng at most.
2ct is maybe 5% below comp though.
530 is probably a solid 15-20% weaker.

You want something challenging though, close grip hook lying bench. That **** is barely 40% of my normal bench

[ECGordyn]

Interesting. Yeah, whenever I've dabbled with speed work or paused reps, it's surprising how much more difficult they are. Somewhat recently I just did a 5x5 with 225 and it was honestly fairly challenging pausing a full second at the bottom of each rep and having to move the weight dead.

In reference to the other thread, I'll start the Candito 6 week the first week of May. Are you going to focus on a particular lift for the next block?

Lifts mostly change each block with no particular focus except OHP and Weighted Chin. I'm running hypertrophy blocks until early-mid July, maybe one extra month, then will switch to the Calgary 8 week and do a bit heavier for fewer reps & more sets.

Assistance lifts change each block but basically I'm doing:

*Beltless comp. squat
*Comp. pause bench
*OHP
*Weighted Chin

*Beltless comp. DL
*Knee curl
Bench variation
Row

Squat variation
Bench variation
*OHP
*Weighted Chin

DL variation
*Knee curl
Bench variation
Row

The * are the only lifts I don't change. Everything else rotates through diff. variations for 4 weeks at a time.

I still need to figure out my OHP and WC programming for later blocks. For now, double progression LP is working on those, but later when I start stalling I'll need to DUP them, maybe add a light high volume day for each.

Might run a cycle or 2 of Smolov Jr. bench before July. This is the time for it while I'm not pushing heavy & hard at squat & DL. Thing is what to do after Smolov? The drop in volume could stall bench progression in later blocks.

[EliKoehn]

^^ Nice, good luck and will follow along! Your programming is so careful and precise, I'd be surprised if you don't make strides of progress.

--

A couple of firsts for me today - new deadlift PR and also first time failing a bench without a spot and having to roll the bar down to my waist before setting it on the floor.

A.S.
Deadlift:
405 x 5
315 x 10
225 x 15

Flat Bench:
3 x 8 at 245, 1 x 7 at 245 (failed an inch below the pins on the 8th rep of the last set)

After reviewing the footage, I frustratingly realized you can't tell from the video that it's four plates. It is. Hope you all trust me, but in any case, I'll be uploading heavier work as we go along and make sure to hit a slightly diagonal angle that clearly shows the load on the bar. My intention filming from the side was to assure my back wasn't rounding.



Changed angles on this one to avoid the same issue. The last time I did 315 for 10, it was more fatiguing than now and this was only a few minutes after the previous set, so it looks like my stamina has made some improvement.



Didn't want to film 225 for 15 as it was just a finisher and all of us here can easily do that already.

[MyEgoProblem]

My comp bench is maybe 2% weaker than Tng at most.
2ct is maybe 5% below comp though.
530 is probably a solid 15-20% weaker.

You want something challenging though, close grip hook lying bench. That **** is barely 40% of my normal bench

Re: tng.
That's because you rarely do tng 😂
Much like me. Historically.

And you know how disgusting my last block tng gainz where...+ 22.5kg & - 2rpe in 9weeks.

Only wish I'd had more pause practice to help it transfer better to my test day before I quit/ went DYEL. 🤔

[BeginnerGainz]

I’m utterly convinced most of you guys here are like 5’7”.

[EliKoehn]

I’m utterly convinced most of you guys here are like 5’7”.

6'2"

I'm utterly convinced you are like afraid to actually lift measured weight. If not let's see your video.

[MyEgoProblem]

With plates in pic or vid... It's easy to tell who is/isn't a manlet 😏

First port of call is plate height to knee cap ratio.in a deadlift video..

[WolfRose7]

I’m utterly convinced most of you guys here are like 5’7”.

5'11.5

king of the manlets

Pivot Squats
Very comfortable single, followed by very uncomfortable tempo ( wasn't that bad but moaning about tempo work is the law)

[ECGordyn]

^^ Nice, good luck and will follow along! Your programming is so careful and precise, I'd be surprised if you don't make strides of progress.

--

A couple of firsts for me today - new deadlift PR and also first time failing a bench without a spot and having to roll the bar down to my waist before setting it on the floor.

A.S.
Deadlift:
405 x 5
315 x 10
225 x 15

Flat Bench:
3 x 8 at 245, 1 x 7 at 245 (failed an inch below the pins on the 8th rep of the last set)

After reviewing the footage, I frustratingly realized you can't tell from the video that it's four plates. It is. Hope you all trust me, but in any case, I'll be uploading heavier work as we go along and make sure to hit a slightly diagonal angle that clearly shows the load on the bar. My intention filming from the side was to assure my back wasn't rounding.



Changed angles on this one to avoid the same issue. The last time I did 315 for 10, it was more fatiguing than now and this was only a few minutes after the previous set, so it looks like my stamina has made some improvement.



Didn't want to film 225 for 15 as it was just a finisher and all of us here can easily do that already.

My biggest obstacle this year is weight control. I won't let myself get fat again, so muscle growth has to really be earned this year without a big caloric surplus.

Careful with your biceps Eli. The 315 looks like you're curling the weight every rep. That's how a tear happens.

Maybe just the shorts, but the 405 looks soft at lockout. Knees look slightly bent and hips not fully extended. Or you just have a big ass lol. Last 2 reps look ramped.

[EliKoehn]

My biggest obstacle this year is weight control. I won't let myself get fat again, so muscle growth has to really be earned this year without a big caloric surplus.

Careful with your biceps Eli. The 315 looks like you're curling the weight every rep. That's how a tear happens.

Maybe just the shorts, but the 405 looks soft at lockout. Knees look slightly bent and hips not fully extended. Or you just have a big ass lol. Last 2 reps look ramped.

Yeah, I noticed that too re the elbow flexion on the 315. I do this too when shrugging sometimes. Even with extremely light weight, fully raising the shoulders is difficult for me without doing this (especially with reverse grip), but you're absolutely right that it's an injury risk when you're dealing with deadlift weight. Even when warming up, however, I find that I cannot complete the lockout without flexing the elbow of my pronated arm just slightly. Might post a form video for this.

I see what you're saying but it is the shorts I think. I do in fact have a rather big butt (decent glute development but I also carry a lot of fat there) and those shorts are fairly loose. If you notice, the bar grabbed them on each rep and pulled the slack forward, which made it look like that was my femur angle. IIRC each rep my legs were fully extended as I wouldn't have pulled my shoulders back at the top without a full lockout, but next time I'll make conscious note of it.

Last rep was a struggle but I wasn't launching it with my thighs if that's what you mean by ramped. I guess the side angle has disadvantages of its own lol.

[WolfRose7]

Yeah, I noticed that too re the elbow flexion on the 315. I do this too when shrugging sometimes. Even with extremely light weight, fully raising the shoulders is difficult for me without doing this (especially with reverse grip), but you're absolutely right that it's an injury risk when you're dealing with deadlift weight. Even when warming up, however, I find that I cannot complete the lockout without flexing the elbow of my pronated arm just slightly. Might post a form video for this.

I see what you're saying but it is the shorts I think. I do in fact have a rather big butt (decent glute development but I also carry a lot of fat there) and those shorts are fairly loose. If you notice, the bar grabbed them on each rep and pulled the slack forward, which made it look like that was my femur angle. IIRC each rep my legs were fully extended as I wouldn't have pulled my shoulders back at the top without a full lockout, but next time I'll make conscious note of it.

Last rep was a struggle but I wasn't launching it with my thighs if that's what you mean by ramped. I guess the side angle has disadvantages of its own lol.

I think your trying to overlock out, let arms hang long and just fire hips through.
If you compete you might occasionally have to exaggerate the lockout for a down call but I wouldn't ever bother in training.

[EliKoehn]

Mediocre session today.

Squatted 315 for a few singles. Had form checked and I'm still coming too far forward with my back, so I went down to 225 and did 5 or 6 sets of 5, almost ass to grass, and put tiny plates under my toes to keep the drive through my heels. Also cueing to push my knees outward a little on the concentric has helped to add some force.

Bench at 225 for 10, 10, 8

OHP at 95 for 12, 12, 12

EDIT: Psychologically I feel ready to go but I think I might want to deload next week, or possibly take a few days off, as I feel a bit weak since that DL and bench fail on Saturday.

[BeginnerGainz]

Mediocre session today.

Squatted 315 for a few singles. Had form checked and I'm still coming too far forward with my back, so I went down to 225 and did 5 or 6 sets of 5, almost ass to grass, and put tiny plates under my toes to keep the drive through my heels. Also cueing to push my knees outward a little on the concentric has helped to add some force.

Bench at 225 for 10, 10, 8

OHP at 95 for 12, 12, 12

EDIT: Psychologically I feel ready to go but I think I might want to deload next week, or possibly take a few days off, as I feel a bit weak since that DL and bench fail on Saturday.

Do you squat in flat shoes, squat shoes, barefoot? It matters. Also, elevating the toes may not be the best idea, but maybe elevating the heels would help (provided you are high bar squatting or doing front squats or squatting with a SSB).

IME low bar squats and “ATG” aren’t really compatible. Too many people try to make the squat too posterior dominated while trying to limit the quads and just wind up fighting themselves. It is their job to extend the knee until the glutes can extend the hips, after all.

[EliKoehn]

Do you squat in flat shoes, squat shoes, barefoot? It matters. Also, elevating the toes may not be the best idea, but maybe elevating the heels would help (provided you are high bar squatting or doing front squats or squatting with a SSB).

IME low bar squats and “ATG” aren’t really compatible. Too many people try to make the squat too posterior dominated while trying to limit the quads and just wind up fighting themselves. It is their job to extend the knee until the glutes can extend the hips, after all.

I squat in nearly flat running shoes.

Yeah, I'm far stronger with the posterior chain which is why I'm trying to force myself to make it quad-dominant and keep from driving with back extension.

Initially I was thinking low bar is a better posture as it is naturally much easier for me but on second thought, that simply overlaps with the deadlift too much and is inefficient for programming and development purposes. I'd rather each lift be fully what it is than try to morph the squat into a deadlift.

Might try to work on front squats next week before moving into Candito the beginning of May. I have very little experience with them but AFAIK there's no way to hit depth without stressing the quads appropriately.

[EliKoehn]

Light/simple session at lunch. Hadn't done bodyweight pullups in a little while so I thought they'd be a good choice.

Wide, pronated pullups at bodyweight:

50 reps in 19 minutes.

5 x 5, 4 x 4, 3 x 3

Most of these were well beneath failure, but I thought the units were interesting for an easy count to 50. I like the segmentation and will likely use this as a single time-trial unit in the future.

[ECGordyn]

I squat in nearly flat running shoes.

Yeah, I'm far stronger with the posterior chain which is why I'm trying to force myself to make it quad-dominant and keep from driving with back extension.

Initially I was thinking low bar is a better posture as it is naturally much easier for me but on second thought, that simply overlaps with the deadlift too much and is inefficient for programming and development purposes. I'd rather each lift be fully what it is than try to morph the squat into a deadlift.

Might try to work on front squats next week before moving into Candito the beginning of May. I have very little experience with them but AFAIK there's no way to hit depth without stressing the quads appropriately.

Are you planning to do FS for the whole Candito program? I'd stick with your main squat style, whatever it is. Get that form perfect so you gain the most from the program. You could always do a squat variation as an accessory on that program, light and easy.

[ECGordyn]

Rated the 8th rep at RPE 8. Got 4 more reps, total 12 @9.5? Help me rate RPE accurately becuz idk wtf im doin anymore

[EliKoehn]

^^ Looks like you might have had one more in the tank, but hard to tell just from footage.

Are you planning to do FS for the whole Candito program? I'd stick with your main squat style, whatever it is. Get that form perfect so you gain the most from the program. You could always do a squat variation as an accessory on that program, light and easy.

No way - I'm certainly going to choose the back squat as the primary form of the exercise. High bar is significantly harder, but I don't know to what extent that is simply because I am relatively untrained with it, rather than any latent disadvantages owing to mechanics or whatever else.

Also, for the purposes of the program itself, what do you think I should plug my max in as? My upload of 315 looks like clean form as far as I can tell, although I could plug in 335 or even possibly my wonky 365 as a 1RM. Undershooting it defeats the point of challenging yourself on a high intensity program, but if it's too high and I can't hit the target, it's a waste of time and inefficient to readjust the max.